"Tonight and in the coming hours, we must pay particularly close attention to air raid alerts," Zelensky warned Ukrainians in his evening address on June 20.

Russian forces launched nine glide bombs on the regional capital, according to preliminary information, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. One victim's body was recovered from the rubble of a destroyed home.

Sending the medal back via Nova Post, Ukraine’s leading postal service, President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Polish people for their support and solidarity during Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details and comments from officials. Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped President Volodymyr Zelensky of the country's honorary Order of the White Eagle title on June 19 following public outcry over Zelensky's decision to name a serving Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). A World War II-era organization that fought for Ukraine's independence, the UPA is remembered in Poland primarily for its role in

Ukrainian forces hit four gas compressors in Russian-occupied Crimea and an oil refinery in the Siberian city of Tyumen on June 20.

The scheme involved men pretending to be musicians going on charity tours abroad, with the former minister signing documents to the State Border Guard permitting them to cross the border.

The decision by Viktor Orban's Fidesz party to block 12 Ukrainian newspapers in September 2025 only sought to deepen divisions between Kyiv and Budapest, said Hungarian Social Relations and Culture Minister Zoltan Tarr.

In the city of Kharkiv, two people were killed and 10 were injured, including a child and a teenager, after Russian drones and glide bombs struck apartment buildings in an overnight attack, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synehubov wrote on his Telegram channel.

The number includes 1,240 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

"Without a reliable power supply, the plant cannot continue assembling unmanned systems and manufacturing electronics for new batches of drones for the occupying forces," the group claimed.

"Through this secure platform, allied governments, labs, and defense tech manufacturers gain access to deep technical data, reports, and vulnerabilities," Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) continued their drone campaign over occupied Crimea on June 19 and overnight into June 20, striking energy facilities on the peninsula, Ukrainian officials and Russian Telegram media channels reported.

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, my phone lit up with a message from a colleague in Kyiv. It read: "The Lavra is bombed. It's on fire." The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, founded in 1051, is the most important religious and cultural site in Eastern Europe. For nearly a thousand years, it has survived invasions, occupations, revolutions, and wars. And today, it joins a growing list of Ukrainian cultural landmarks damaged by Russian missiles. According to Ukraine's Culture Ministry, this list has grown to 1,783 cul

President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 19 accused Belarus of facilitating Russian drone attacks on Ukraine and warned that Minsk has one week to remove communications equipment allegedly helping guide strikes from Belarusian territory, or Ukraine would take action itself.

Key developments on June 19: * Kyiv targets Moscow for second day in a row following record drone assault; * Moscow Oil Refinery halts operations after largest-ever drone attack on Russian capital, General Staff says; * US senators propose using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine's military; * Australia announces $70 million in arms funding for Ukraine through PURL initiative; * Western allies pledge $4 billion in military aid for Ukraine at Ramstein summit. Moscow came under attack

The strike damaged a combined oil processing unit, three RVS-10000 oil storage tanks, and one RVS-30000 tank at the Moscow Oil Refinery. The facility has suspended oil processing for an indefinite period.

The drones were intercepted over the space of two hours between 12:10 p.m. and 2:12 p.m. local time, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported.

The Kyiv Independent's Martin Fornusek travels across Estonia, from the streets of Tallinn to military exercises near the Russian border, to see how the Baltic country is preparing for potential threats.

The proposed legislation would allow frozen Russian assets under U.S. control to be used for the purchase of military equipment for Ukraine.

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) reported on June 19 that the apartment of the head of one of its detective units was bugged with surveillance devices. The bureau said an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was involved in the tapping.

Kyiv vowed to clean up corruption at Ukraine’s troubled state-run nuclear company, but seven months after the country’s most significant wartime corruption scandal, the old system remains largely intact. Energoatom, which operates three working nuclear plants that generate more than 60% of Ukraine’s electricity, became the poster child for Kyiv’s wartime corruption after anti-graft authorities uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme last November. Among the perpetrators were close associates

Around 65% of Ukrainians support the country's accession to the bloc, according to a survey by the EU Neighbors East program.

Two contributions of 50 million AUD ($35 million) each will be made, after Ukraine became one of the first non-NATO member states to fund the program in December 2025, according to a press release.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 90 Shahed-type attack drones overnight on June 19. Air defenses downed 79 drones, while nine hit targets across eight locations.

The number includes 1,370 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

A federal court has temporarily halted the operations of 15 corporations and eight individuals under the Kyiv-based firm Genesis Tech, which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said in a public statement deceived consumers with hidden costs, recurring charges, and convoluted mechanisms to cancel subscriptions.

Russian forces launched several glide bombs on Kharkiv overnight on June 19, damaging dozens of homes and injuring at least six people, local officials reported.

Editor's note: This investigation is a collaboration between The Kyiv Independent (Ukraine), IrpiMedia (Italy) and OCCRP.  The story is also available in German, translated by Krautreporter. Key findings * A Turkish company co-owned by an EU national shipped EU-made equipment to Russian defense plants despite European export restrictions, customs records reveal. * The Russian plants use such equipment to produce metal alloys, later used to make missiles and fighter jets. * Two plants that

Ukraine's allies collectively pledged $4 billion in military aid to Ukraine, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said following the conclusion of the Ramstein-format meeting in Belgium on June 18.

BRUSSELS — Belgium, The conclusions of the meeting of EU leaders on June 18 have been watered down, at the insistence of Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, to reduce the urgency of advancing Ukraine's EU accession process. Three days prior, the EU opened the first of six so-called enlargement clusters for Ukraine and Moldova, to-do lists that they must complete to become the union's member states. It was expected that the remaining five clusters would open in July at the latest. The draft

European Union leaders agreed on June 18 to extend sanctions against Russia for another 12 months instead of the customary six-month period.

"The U.S. responded positively to Poland's proposal to establish a permanent U.S. military base in Poland," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said June 18 after meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.